HTC, Samsung see healthy profits

HTC and Samsung have both reported healthy profits for the first quarter of 2015.

Taiwanese handset maker HTC released unaudited financial results for the quarter ending 31st March 2015 which indicate that the company earned NT$41.5bn (£900m) and made post-tax profits of NT$360m (£7.8m).

Sales were down on the previous quarter which yielded revenue of NT$47.9 (£1bn) and post-tax profits of NT$500m (£10.8m), but significantly up year on year from NT$33.1bn (£700m) of revenue and a net loss of NT$1.88bn (£41m) in Q1 2014 as its market share plummeted. Indeed the Q1 2015 results represent a fourth consecutive quarter of profit for HTC and will go some way to convincing investors that the dark days of 2013 when sales were squeezed heavily by competition from Samsung and others are behind it.

HTC is pinning its hopes for further success on its flagship One M9 Android smartphone, a device sporting a 20 megapixel camera and advanced photographic features which has garnered mixed reviews after going on sale on 31st March this year. The M9 will face fierce competition from rival handset makers, however, especially the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge devices which are due to hit the UK market this Friday (April 10th).

If HTC is relying on the One M9 to augment its fortunes, a profit warning from Samsung suggests the South Korean company may have more to lose if those Galaxy S6 devices do not meet sales targets. Newly released earnings guidance suggests Samsung will see its profit dip 30 per cent year on year in Q1 2015, though the company still expects operating profit to hit a healthy 5.9 trillion won (£3.64bn) off the back of 47 trillion won (£28.9bn) revenue, again down 12 per cent compared to Q1 2014.